Ease and Freedom in the Drawn Line by Julianna Hyrri

Not unlike the scenes of whimsical, naked woodland dancing in her illustrations, Juliana Hyrri’s process and choice of materials are often led by a somewhat carefree flow and where her mood takes her in any given moment.

Juliana’s free-spirited characters are the embodiment of her creative and ever-evolving approach to the way she creates her work. As an artist who loves to play with any and every technique, what materials she picks up can change from day to day.

It’s a great approach to creating images and seems to filter through into a sense of ease and freedom that can be felt in not only her beautiful character designs but right down to the quality of her drawn line itself.

“As a kid, I dreamed of becoming a bus driver once I grew up, just like my father and his brother, their father and probably every man on their side of the family.”

“I never got a driver’s license and became an artist. It’s not a job, it’s a lifestyle, and I hate and love it at the same time.”

“I consider myself as a restless soul and I believe it’s visible in my art: I want to do pretty much everything. I work in the fields of comics, illustration, painting, drawing, installation, animation, you name it.”

“However, I believe running in a dozen different directions has diversified my artistic expression and I think this method of working suits my personality.”

“The latest themes in my art have been midsummer magic and mermaids, things inappropriate for girls, innocent evil and playful atmospheres. I often combine Finnish nature and plants to my work as well.”

“Besides freelance illustrations, I am working on my own comic book of short stories based on auto/biographical narratives. The book is to be published in 2019.”

“My choice of medium is very seasonal. At the moment, I’m all into pencils, the beautiful smudginess, various tones of gray and nervous lines. The deep black indian ink is one of my everlasting favorites as well.”

“I actually prefer any technique where I have to dirty my hands, but I do work on my computer sometimes, too.”